A handful of photos from Friday 28th. We'll be out again this morning after the overnight rain and will post Saturday's update later.

Remember the chap digging the mud away from his beach hut? Well this is where it ended up - on the beach below. In several places mud like this has mixed with sand and liquefied to form a quicksand. Take Care!

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We are monitoring this area near the Pines Hotel. There was evidence of futher slippage on Friday

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Finally, a couple of shots looking up to the Ballard Estate. This decking was level when we checked it on Wednesday.

Friday, 28 December 2012

A fun competition to fill that awkward bit between Christmas and New Year......

In Puzzle 1 above we see a shot of our regular Slipwatch area immediately prior to last weeks major fall. Below it is the same view taken on 28 December 2012.

Puzzle 2: slightly more tricky. The upper photo was taken at 10am on Boxing Day, 26 December 2012. The lower photo was taken 48 hours later at 10am on 28 December 2012, although we believe this fall actually occured late on Boxing Day afternoon.

Answers: In both cases there has been a significant land slip which would have severely injured or killed anyone caught in its way. The cliff is still moving. Just because this site and the BBC showed some impressive video footage last weekend, it doesnt mean the cliff fall is over and the area is now safe. Quite the opposite.

Thursday, 27 December 2012

Portland MRCC and I took calls from concerned members of the public who reported people still walking within the beach closure.

The closure put on by several agencies was to minimise the risk to users of the beach yet it continues to be ignored.

The risk of further slippage and rock falls remains high especially with further rain tomorrow.

To the individual or individuals that continues to rip down the barrier tape, you could be committing an offence as you are hindering the Emergency services in their duties.

The signs and tape are their for a reason......the beach is closed, a rare and unusual situation however one put in place for safety reasons.

Finally a short message to the two individuals who sparked the most calls today.

Standing on top of your beach hut digging at the Landslip to remove clay from your doors is not (in our opinion and others) the safest or best idea at present.

1) The clay is still moving and what you remove will probably be back shortly.
2) You are putting the emergency services at risk
3) You are putting yourselves and other members of the public at risk
4) The clay you have thrown on the beach will now mix with the sand in the heavy rain and make a mixture similar to quick sand (as we have found further up)
5) A reminder that the slip directly above you moved with no warning, silently and with some force although you shouldn't actually be there note the concrete smashed up on the beach?

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The several tons of rock and earth above the beach hut are sitting in a thin film of water which acts as a lubricant. As the cliff above becomes more saturated and therefore heavier, it puts increased pressure on the earth below and it will only be a matter of time before a huge dump lands exactly where this individual is standing. We have observed falls like this several times over the last few days and it all happens very quickly, silently and with no warning.

Photo: Ben Sturch, copied from a Swanage community page on Facebook. Our thanks to the photographer.

Monday, 24 December 2012

Late this afternoon Portland Coastguard called me advising that NCI at Peveril Point were watching someone digging at the pile of mud and rocks surrounding presumably their beach hut at the North of the beach.

Whilst they considered tasking the Initial Response Team, they wanted to ensure that the barrier tape and signage was in situ which was confirmed as of this mornings patrol.

Whilst we can understand the concern of trying to protect someones property, to dig or worse still actually be under an active land slip does give up some concern.

We may sound like a stuck record but PLEASE, LET THIS SLIP SETTLE AND KEEP CLEAR OF THE CLIFFS

We have taken advice today on the slip and the advice back is that the beach closure stays on until a
formal structural survey is carried out. I'm afraid there is no timescale on this with a public holiday approaching.

This is a multi agency incident involving HM Coastguard, Dorset Police, Dorset County Council, Purbeck District Council, Swanage Town Council and many landowners.

The Coastguard will continue to patrol the area to monitor the situation throughout the holiday period.

A quick patrol along the beach this morning and there seems to be no significant slips overnight just a couple of very minor ones, but there is a possibility of this changing if we get the rain that is forecast.

One of the issues we now face is that any of the clay from the cliff that has been washed onto the beach is getting covered in sand when the tide comes in, as I found out this morning these patches of sand are very very soft and I now have dirty boots, luckily for me the other two with me managed not to laugh to much to help me out.

This picture was taken an hour before high water and as you can see there is not a lot of room and there is the possibility of people getting cut off by the high tide.

Please stay safe and enjoy your Christmas with family or friends and not with the Swanage Coastguard team trying to rescue you.

Sunday, 23 December 2012

The last 48 hours have been very demanding on the team (and their families), some were out for 13 hours yesterday.

Whilst the majority of people have been supportive, some of the team have been met with anger and aggression when giving people advice or asking why they ignored the safety signs.

As an emergency service we do carry certain legal powers, however generally we use the power of common sense in trying to prevent an accident.
The whole point of temporarily closing the beach is to actually reduce the risk of injury to the public and avoid calling us out.
Perhaps some feel this is over the top, some feel it restricts their freedom however we would ask those to consider the risk it creates to those who have to perform the rescue if something happens, especially those who are volunteers like us.

Regrettably we along with our partner agencies can not provide 24 hour cover on the beach, as we found out today when the team responded to someone missing in Poole Harbour. Whilst we were searching we were made aware of a large crowd that had ignored the safety tape so had to redeploy other team members to again provide safety advice back in Swanage.

We really do hope that this is a temporary situation, the recent heavy rain is speeding up a process that has been developing for some months. There are several hot spots along the cliff from Ocean Bay to Sheps Hollow and whilst we continue to find fresh rock falls on the path and beach the closures shall remain in force.

The decision to close the beach was a multi agency decision involving:
HM Coastguard, Dorset Police, Dorset County Council, Purbeck District Council Engineer along with the many landowners in this area.

Our priority is to ensure the safety of the community and visitors to the town and I very much regret if our actions have spoilt the enjoyment of our normally very special beach area.

May I take this opportunity to thank all the team for their efforts this weekend and wish all our readers a Merry but safe Christmas.

Some photos from this morning's visual assessment. We've included a quick commentary; no we are not geologists or geomorphologists but I hope it is an honest and informative summary.

Whilst the rain has stopped it is apparent that there is still slippage at Burlington Chine. The beach huts are all in place, although there is severe loading of debris over the older huts. A slip of the existing debris is likely to occur during the next heavy rain with further risk of new slippage from the gardens above, including concrete and glass panels.

Burlington Chine

Further northwards there is a significant slump, about 30m inland by 150m in length; the area is very unstable with the slump being liquid mud. Areas of beach have been over-washed with clay which has caused areas of quicksand at the bottom of the slips.

Under the The Pines

At the Highcliffe there is more washing of debris through new channels in the cliff which has built up behind the railway sleeper wall; this is at load and must be considered a risk in itself. Above there is undercutting of the cliff and potential for a catastrophic failure at some point - maybe this week, maybe months. Keen eyed readers will see one beach hut to the left moved forward by the debris.

Highcliffe

At the 'slip watch site' there is more liquefaction of debris and a large area ready to fall at next rain fall; again there is significant risk of concrete and stone gabions falling from height.

'Slip Watch Area'

There are 5 lines of cordon tape up and signage, however we have had to speak to a dozen or so persons this morning who believe the warnings do not apply to them are solely there for other people / general inconvenience. One person commented it was not 'Police tape' and therefore of no consequence (incorrect), another more polite chap wanted to dig his beach hut out. And yes we will remove all the tape at the end of the closure.

Ultimately the cliff is likely to collapse with no warning and any persons in the wrong place will either be critically injured from falling rock or be buried in mud debris. We don't particularly want to close the walkway but have done for reasons of public safety.

In the back of our minds is the sad loss of life of a young lady earlier this year due to a cliff collapse near Lyme Regis, and the sad loss of two persons in a mudslide at Beaminster tunnel. To put it in perspective our response time to any incident is likely to be around 8 minutes on scene, but we'd far sooner people stayed away from the marked danger areas.

Some photos from midday today; fair to say with this afternoon's rain the cliff has slumped further and is more dangerous.

Please, please heed the warning signs that are there for the benefit of public safety. We've spoken to dozens of local people who have broken through the Coastguard warning tape by Ocean Bay and at the top of Burlington Chine to see for themselves; each was apologetic when we've explained the very real danger.

When the slip happened this morning there was no warning, ...no rumble ....no sound ...no nothing.

Swanage Coastguard Team deployed at 04:00 this morning for a missing person and then returned to monitor the cliff at Burlington Chine. At around 08:20 we saw a large slump of the cliff face - which interestingly was silent.

The promenade between Ocean's Bay and Shep's Hollow has been closed to allow a proper assessment of the danger to be undertaken.

Already this morning we have had to warn a number of walkers who broke the cordon with the excuse that they were trying to take photos and video for BBC South's lunchtime bulletin. Please respect the closure which has been made for public safety reasons.

Thursday, 20 December 2012

After nearly two days of rain, tomorrow appears to a dry day (for us here in Swanage) so we recommend those jobs you have put off outside are done quickly.

Sadly there is more rain on the way for Saturday and on already very wet ground this could lead to further floods.

Anyone travelling to Wareham will notice the causeways are heavily flooded and the A351 is flooded by the Springfield turning. Meanwhile the A352 is closed near Winfrith. With several incidents around Dorset today with person stuck in flood water we remind readers not to drive in flood water.

Saturday, 15 December 2012

Remember the gardening makeover programme with Charlie Dimmock and her two popular companions?
The result of the recent rough weather is this new rockery feature by the tea gardens in the Lower High Street. Something Groundforce would be proud of!

Thursday, 13 December 2012

There is a weather warning in place for heavy rain tomorrow especially in the morning. With a very high tide also this could combine to cause flooding, readers should be aware and monitor advice from the environment agency and met office.

Thursday, 6 December 2012

Tuesday night saw the team get together for the annual mince pie and review of the year meeting.

Despite the year being busy with the Olympics for some of the team, the weather had a huge impact in the number of incidents the team have dealt with, in fact it's down to a 10 year low.

Discussions were held on the way the team will work in 2013 along with a heavy training plan. Team Recruitment is a priority for the start of the year to ensure we are at full strength........if anyone is interested in joining please do get in touch.

Various items of new equipment are on the way but we will talk about these when they arrive.

With the business done, it was down to the mince pies, (or apple pies for someone)

Friday, 30 November 2012

Although the blog has been a bit quiet this week, things are ticking along still behind the scenes.

Austen arrived back last Friday, and it took him only a few hours to get to the station to see what we've been up to in his absence. I think he approved, so we must be doing something right.

Gareth has been running a DVD sale with the most eclectic mix of titles you can imagine - business has been slow to start with but the boss hopes to publicise the sale on this site soon.

We had kit night on Tuesday, our monthly check of all our equipment and a chance to drink tea and eat biscuits. And Quality Street. And Jaffa cakes.

Some of the lifejackets have gone off for a service - they don't all go away together as that would leave us with, er, none to use!

Oooh, and its the Christmas Meal tomorrow night and the presentation of the Coastguard of the Year award. Lets hope they don't run out of beer like they did two years ago. Then again, for a restaurant to stock only six bottles of Peroni when you have a table for 20 booked is always a risky strategy. Seriously, its true; ask Gareth - he had three, I had the others.

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Beer? Don't mind if I do. Quick then before the rest arrive, or they'll all want one.....

Disclaimer: Other beers are available, although sadly on the night in question, they weren't.﻿

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